COMMITTED: Catching Up with Kyle Trout

The recruiting class of 2013 may go down as the best in Ohio State history, but the offensive line was the one area the Buckeyes probably could have improved upon if you want to nitpick the group.

Kyle Trout became the third commit for OSU in 2014

OT Evan Lisle and OG Tim Gardner are outstanding prospects, but with four of five starters on the line set to depart after the upcoming season, more prospects at the position were needed and the staff struck out on a number of talented players.

With those circumstances in mind, it didn't take long for Urban Meyer to go after offensive linemen in his recruiting class of 2014. Cleveland Glenville OG Marcelys Jones jumped on board to be number one and just this past weekend, Lancaster OT Kyle Trout became a future pupil of Ed Warinner's as well.

At 6-6/290, Trout has excellent size that measures up with his ranking as the 12th-best offensive tackle in the country, according to the 247 Composite. It is his athleticism and how well he moves on his feet, though, that has the coaches excited that they may have landed their left tackle of the future this past weekend.

We caught up with Kyle to hear his feelings on his commitment to Ohio State, why he decided to pull the trigger now, what he hopes to accomplish when he gets to Columbus, and more.

Join us after the jump to hear about the third member of the class of 2014 to verbally commit to Ohio State, Kyle Trout.

You committed to Ohio State this past weekend. How does it feel to be a Buckeye?

Once I committed I felt like nothing had changed. I am still just a kid from Lancaster, Ohio, who plays football and have been blessed to make it to the next level. I know I still have a lot of work to do, because while I may stand out at my high school, I'm entering a new pool of players, all like myself, who were recruited by great college football programs and will all be fighting to be the best at that level. I'm just going to keep working hard and training to make sure I'm ready for Ohio State.

You were offered on January 26. Why did you decide now was the time to commit to OSU?

When I first got my offer I was so relieved and it was a really big thing to happen to me. That Sunday night I almost called the coaches to commit, but got scared when I picked up the phone and decided to take some time to weigh the pros and cons of making that decision. Last Wednesday I almost picked up the phone and committed again, but decided that I wanted to be a man about it and let them know in person.

While weighing the pros and cons over the last two weeks I just realized there was no reason not to commit. It was close to home, I had a former teammate there already (Luke Roberts), they have Athletes in Action on campus, they went 12-0 last year and I know they're going to keep winning. It's something I always dreamed about, it's a great education, and they have Coach Warinner who just won an award as the best offensive line coach in the country, so there's nobody better to help me succeed at the next level.

I thought, 'why not?' and after praying on it I knew Ohio State was where I needed to be.

How did the coaches react when you committed?

Coach Meyer was pumped and gave me a high five, but was so excited that he brought me in for a hug. Coach Warinner was really excited as well and afterwards I told them both I wanted to help them get the best recruiting class in the country for 2014. When I said that they were really happy and pulled me back into their office to talk even more.

You say you want to help the Buckeyes get the best 2014 recruiting class. Have you spoke to the other commits yet or any other prospects?

I followed all of the other 2014 commits on Twitter and we exchanged numbers and have been talking. I'm going to talk to whatever other players I can to try and help bring them to Ohio State.

What did the coaches say to you about getting prepared to come to Ohio State?

Physically they don't want me to gain any more weight, but they want me to get stronger. They want me to be able to bench press 225 pounds 15 or more times before I get to campus and gave me other drills and exercises to build up my strength.

They also gave my coach a list of academic, leadership, and football goals for me to work towards over the next year.

I know enrolling early is a possibility. Is that something you're planning on doing?

Luke Roberts was able to enroll early last year, but that was when they were on quarters. I'm currently working on trying to make sure that I have everything approved to be able to graduate early from Lancaster and enroll early for second semester at Ohio State next year.

What will it be like playing with Luke again?

It's going to be awesome. He's a great kid and a hard worker. He's going to push me and I'm going to push him to get better as well. Our families are friends and so are we so it's really great. Knowing an upperclassman like that to give me advice and let me know what to expect will definitely give me a competitive edge.

What are your goals for your senior season? What are your goals for Ohio State?

For my senior season I just want to grab my team and try to produce some results. We were 5-5 and 3-7 the last two seasons and while we have had good leaders, we haven't had both vocal leaders and those who lead by example. I feel I can do both and so can others on our team so I am going to try and lead us to make the playoffs and win the OCC. It's more of a long shot, but I've always wanted to win a state title as well.

For Ohio State, I want to achieve my goal of making the NFL one day and also play on a successful college team. I am fed up with losing after dealing with it so much in junior high school and now in high school, so winning is a big thing for me.

Comments

This kid seems to have a great head on his shoulders. He seems like the kind of guy we want: one that works hard, is competitive, and will do whatever is needed to be the best. I hope we keep getting guys just like Mr. Trout.

This "Catching Up" may be the most insightful I've seen as far as how things play out in the recruitment and commitment of a kid. He was very outspoken in his answers and seems like a potential future leader. In short, he seems to have his sh*t together at a pretty young age."...they have Athletes in Action on campus." -- Cool that he not only included that as a piece of the puzzle, but was willing to make mention of it.
+1 | "...but was so excited that he brought me in for a hug."

Nothing new for me to say here - but I'll reiterate what others have already said. He seems to be real humble and have a great head on his shoulders. And he seems like he wants to go to work.
Congrats, Kyle, and welcome to Buckeye Nation!

I've known a few former Lancaster football players that I've met at OSU, and they all seem to be really well grounded guys. If anyone on here played or went to Lancaster, I'd be interested to know what the coach over there is like, because someone is teaching these kids to have great character.

I didn't go to Lancaster but I am not too far away in Pickerington and Pick Central is a big rival of Lancaster. I am pretty sure that Rob Carpenter is still the coach of the Lancaster Gales. If the name sounds familiar, he is the father of former Buckeye Bobby Carpenter.

This kid sounds like an absolute get! He seems to be very grounded and knows what he is looking for. One thing that shocked me was his inability to bench 225 15 times. Although this is definitely not easy for a normal person, it is surprising a 6'6 mountain of a man cannot do it. Love to see what he will be like once he adds muscle and goes through osu's training program!

Kyle wasn't sure how many times he can rep 225 because he doesn't lift that way right now. The staff is more concerned with flexibility than strength. But there were offensive linemen in the NFL combine last year that didn't do 15 times. Marcel Jones from Nebraska did 13 times. There were a bunch of other players at the combine that didn't hit 15, so it's a bit more difficult to do than you'd think for a kid who just turned 17. Don't worry, Marotti will have muscle on him and he'll be fine.

I know I still have a lot of work to do, because while I may stand out at my high school, I'm entering a new pool of players, all like myself, who were recruited by great college football programs and will all be fighting to be the best at that level.

I love this about this kid. Too many studs get complacent with their talent and just don't take the next step when they hit the college level. Kyle Trout seems like he understands that and definitely wants to keep improving. Exactly the kind of player this staff wants and I'm excited to have him. Huge pick up.

I check out BuckeyePlanet.com every now and then and Kyle's dad actually posts over there under Kyle's page. Seems like one hell of a good family they've got there.
Got to love those kids that will most likely make OSU look good on and off the field.
Welcome aboard!

As a Lancaster native, I'm pretty excited about having another Golden Gale on the Buckeye roster. I'm happy everything worked out and he earned an offer and gave his commitment so early. He sounds like a really great kid and could be a leader for this class.

OK, I have a confession to make. When Coach Meyer was in FL, I really thought he was a bit of a hypocrite because he was bringing in players, whom I judged, as bad characters simply because of their athleticism (Tim Tebow excluded). I freely admit that this was based on ignorant perceptions and the fact that I was hating because of the NCG blowout.
I am so impressed with how decent many of the new recruits, from last year through 2014, seem to be. I follow some on twitter and am amazed at how smart and mature they are (Dave Perkins, Cam Burrows come to mind immediately). Kyle seems to be in that mold as well.
I am not a babe in the woods and know that some of these guys will make mistakes, as young men do. But I am really happy to be able to cheer for such good character guys, and promise not to be a judgemental hater in the future (except TSUN, ND, USC... oh well, I need to work on this.)

Now I could be wrong, but I believe that this is something that Urban has been consciously trying to avoid bringing in at Ohio State. There have been a couple of kids that have been recruited and even committed who I could see getting into trouble at some point(not going to name names) but on the whole we are bringing in some quality human beings.
There was a great article on ESPN last week about Northwestern and how Fitzgerald tries to only recruit captains. Said something about how over 70 players on their team applied to be on their leadership council. The council sort of represents a player's government on the team. Pretty cool of Fitzgerald to do that and although I think OSU doesn't need to go to that extreme, it's gotta be a niche that is incredibly attractive to the recruits Northwestern targets. Makes me more excited for James Clarck if he passed Fitzgerald's character test.

I can understand how he feels fed up with losing. My three years in high school (not counting freshman year), we were 14-16, my freshman year in hs we lost all games, 7-8 grade won probably 4 games total, and 6th grade my team went 1-7. needless to say, I did not have the best overall experience with winning, then I went to college at a winning program, and while at W&J, over my fours years we were 40-7.... So i know exactly what he is talking about.

Welcome, Kyle, and here is to the end of losing seasons and the beginning of a winning tradition and the continuation of a successful career.

You can feed a bobcat all the chili it wants. That don't mean it's going to crap out diamonds.

My younger brother was the same way @ Marion Harding. 1-6 as a freshmen, 4-10 in middle school, and 9-21 as a varsity player. He went to Mount Union and played for 4 years and went 58-2 with two Division III National Championships. Completely understand Kyle Trouts hungry to win.

What a catch! (sorry, I know it's bad) Trout has a great head on his shoulders and I loved this interview. Refreshing to read such a humble, down to earth interview. Really excited to root for this kid.

Yes, a great read and a great kid! Can't wait to get him into the fold and ready for some of that winning that he is also looking forward to.
p.s. a couple of those clips in his highlight reel look like a collision between a semi and a deer.